


The Right To Hold On

by miera



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 01:38:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14438712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miera/pseuds/miera
Summary: Wyatt watches over Lucy while she's sick in between "Salem Witch Hunt" and "The Kennedy Curse."





	The Right To Hold On

Wyatt knew he needed to get up and leave. He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting here, but it’s been a while. Jessica is probably going to be up soon, if she isn’t already. He doesn’t want her stuck wandering around the bunker alone.

He doesn't want someone to come in and see him and Lucy like this.

But he can’t make himself move. 

In the confusion of Jess being here – here in the bunker, here as in _alive_ – he'd spent a good 24 hours alternating between trying to explain everything, trying to comfort her, and trying to figure out what to do next. Lost in that bubble, he didn't hear the noises coming from outside the room where he and his wife were sequestered. He didn't learn that Lucy had developed a dangerous infection from the knife wound until he had crossed paths with Christopher on his way to shower.

Lucy was sick. And he didn't even know.

Forty-eight hours ago he would've been the person who noticed her symptoms.

Fuck that. Forty-eight hours ago he would've been in Salem protecting her from getting stabbed in the first place. 

Wyatt had walked in to Lucy's room just as Jiya was in full freakout mode. Lucy's fever was up to 103. She needed a hospital. 

A hospital that could never possibly be made safe. 

Christopher overruled the panic, insisting Lucy stay in the bunker and that the doctor would have to come to her. Wyatt had sat mute, wanting to pick Lucy up himself and take her to a real doctor and insist they make her better, knowing that even he wouldn't be able to protect her if she was in a hospital and Rittenhouse came after her. 

The doctor came, changed the medication and instructed them how to put cold packs around Lucy to try and keep up with the fever. Wyatt was sent away, along with Rufus, because Jiya and Christopher had to undress her to follow the doctor's orders. His hands had clenched, remembering the way her skin had felt under his fingers just a few days ago.

He'd lost the right to take care of her like that.

Her fever inched up more.

He was still her friend. She was still part of his team. He hadn't lost the right to sit by her bedside, so he did that. When Jess had fallen into her own uneasy sleep, Wyatt left his bunk silently and went straight to Lucy's room. Rufus was sitting by the bed, fidgeting like mad. Wyatt sent him off, knowing full well he wouldn't wake anyone to take the next shift even when it was time. 

He wiped the sweat from her face, checked her temperature, took her pulse, and watched over her. 

Lucy mumbled, tossing in the bed, her face grimacing. 

Every molecule in his body wanted to reach for her hand, comfort her as much as he could. 

_Jess is alive. Jess is alive._

"No," Lucy whimpered, her eyes moving back and forth beneath her closed eyelids. "No, please." 

"Lucy," he called, his voice soft and as soothing as he could make it. "It's okay. You're safe." This was nothing they hadn't done before. All three of them had nightmares. All of them had woken up in the middle of the night from fear. 

She cried out, another pained "no" cracking her voice, and her hand reached out blindly.

It was pure instinct, taking her hand in both of his, shifting closer, calling to her again. "Lucy, it's okay. You're safe. You're safe." 

"Wyatt?" her eyes opened, just a little. He could tell she wasn't really awake, but that didn't matter.

"I'm here," he said, the words nearly choking him. "You're okay. Just sleep, Luce. You need to get rest and get better, right?" She had to get better. She had to be all right. _She had to_. 

She murmured something that might have been agreement. Her fingers tightened around his and she drifted back off. 

Wyatt knew he should let go. She was asleep again, there was no need to keep holding her hand cradled in between his. He had no right to do this. Someone was going to come in and see this and get the wrong idea.

But he can't make himself let go.


End file.
